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Forum Discussion
Wi-Fi speed
I have the RBK50 and here recently my Wi-Fi speed is only topping out at 304 mbps. Before I could get 500 to 700 mbps connection to the router. I use the app Wi-Fi SweetSpots to see connection speed. ...
I have no personal experience with the SweetSpots app. From what I see with an internet search of "WiFi SweetSpots app", it appears that this app sends UDP "discard" packets to the gateway, which is the Orbi if it is in "router" mode or the router the Orbi is connected to if the Orbi is in Access Point (AP) mode. How the app calculates "speed" by doing that, I have no idea.
SweetSpots certainly should be affected by WiFi overhead and by any other use of WiFi by (a) the iPhone itself, and (b) other devices on the same WiFi channel. Orbi uses one 5G WiFi channel to communicate with every 5G device. If one of them starts streaming video while the SweetSpots test is going on, then the reported speed should be less.
The "Link Rate" displayed by the Orbi app is a description of theoretical speed, which does not take things like WiFi overhead and device capability into account.
SweetSpots looks like an interesting alternative to typical "internet speed apps" which test the entire path between device and a remote server. It appears to be directed at the question: "which parts of my house get better WiFi signal than other parts?"